file it with a spirit of superstition. Superstition is a disposition of mind, that inclines us to regulate all parts of divine worship, not by just notions of the Supreme Being, nor by his relations to us, nor by what he has condescended to reveal, but by our own fancies. A superstitious man entertains fantastical ideas of God, and renders to him capricious worship; he not unfrequently takes himself for a model of God; he thinks that what most resembles himself, however mean and contemptible, approaches nearest to perfection. We affirm, this disposition is almost universal.

It would be needless to prove this to you, my brethren, in regard to erroneous communities. Were superstition banished from the world, we should not see men, who are made in the image of God, disgrace their nature by prostrating themselves before idols, and marmosets, so as to render. religious honors to half a block of wood or stone, the other half of which they apply to the meanest purposes: we should not see a crowd of idolaters performing a ceremonial, in which conviction of mind hath no part, and which is all external and material: we should not see a concourse of people receiving with respect, as the precious blood of the Saviour of the world, a few drops of putrified water, which the warmth of the sun hath produced by fermentation in the trunk of a decayed tree: we should not see pilgrims in procession mangling their flesh in the streets, dragging along heavy loads, howling in the high-ways, and taking such absurd practices for that repentance, which, breaks the heart, and transforms and renews thedife. You will easily grant all this, for, I have observed, it is often less difficult to inspire you with horror for these practices, than to excite compassion in you for such as perform them.

But you ought to be informed, that there are other superstitions less gross, and therefore more dangerous. Among us we do not put a worship absolutely foreign to the purpose in the place of that, which God hath commanded and exemplified to us, but we make an estimate of the several parts of true worship. These estimates are regulated by opinions formed through prejudice or passion. What best agrees with our inclinations we consider as the essence of religion, and what would thwart and condemn them we think circumstantial.

We make a scruple of not attending a sermon, not keeping a festival, not receiving the Lord's supper, but we make none of neglecting to visit a prisoner, to comfort the sick, or to plead for the oppressed. We observe a strict decency in our religious assemblies while our ministers address prayer to God, but we take no pains to accompany him with our minds and hearts, to unite our ejaculations with his to besiege the throne of grace. We think it a duty to join our voices with those of a whole congregation, and to fill our places of worship with the praises of our Creator, but we do not think ourselves obliged to understand the sense of the psalm, that is sung with so much fervor, and, in the language of an apostle, to sing with understanding, 1 Cor. xiv. 15. We lay aside innocent occupations the day before we receive the Lord's supper, but no sooner do we return from that ordinance than we allow the most criminal pleasures, and enter upon the most scandalous intrigues. Who make these mistakes, my brethren? Is it the few? Be not conformed to this world, in regard to the worship that God requires of you, the multitude perform it in a spirit of superstition.

III. Neither are the many a better guide in regard to morality. Here, my brethren, we are going more particularly to describe that class of mankind, among which we live, and of which we ourselves are a part. Indeed, the portraits we are going to draw will not be flattering to them, for justice requires, that we should describe men as they are, not as they pretend to be. In order to exactness let us consider them separately and apart. First, In regard to the masters who govern them. Secondly, in regard to the professions, which they exercise. Thirdly, In regard to some maxims ge+ nerally received. Fourthly, In regard to the splendid actions, which they celebrate. And lastly, In regard to certain decisive occasions, that like touchstones discover their principles and motives.

1. Consider mankind in regard to the masters who govern them. Here I congratulate myself on the happiness of speaking to a free people, among whom it is not reputed a crime to praise what is praise worthy, and to blame what deserves blame, and where we may freely trace the characters of some men of whom prudence requires us not to speak evil, no not in thought, no not in the bed chamber, least a bird of the air should carry the voice, and that which hath wings should tell the matter, Eccles. x. 20. Is it in the palaces of the great that humility reigns, humility which so well becomes creatures, who though crowned and enthroned are yet infirm, criminal, dying creatures, and who in a few days will become food for worms, yea perhaps victims in the flames of hell? Is it in the palaces of the great that uprightness, good faith and sincerity reign, yet without these society is nothing but a banditti, treaties are only snares, and laws cobwebs, which, to use a well known expression, catch only weak insects, while the free

and carnivorous break through? Is it in the palaces of the great that gratitude reigns, that lawful tribute due to every motion made to procure our happiness? Is it there that the services of a faithful subject, the labors of an indefatigable merchant, the perils of an intrepid soldiery, blood shed and to be shed, are estimated and rewarded? Is it there that the cries of the wretched are heard, tears of the oppressed wiped away, the claims of truth examined and granted? Is it in the palaces of the great that benevolence reigns, that benevolence without which a man is only a wild beast? Is it there that the young ravens which cry are heard and fed? Psal. cxlvii. 9. Is it there that they attend to the bitter complaints of an indigent man, ready to die with hunger, and who asks for no more than will just keep him alive? Are the laces of the great, seats of piety and devotion? Is it there that schemes are formed for the reformation of manners? Is it there that they are grieved for the affliction of Joseph, Amos vi. 6. and take pleasure in the dust and stones of Zion? Psal cii. 14. Is it there that we hear the praises of the Creator, do they celebrate the compassion of the Redeemer of mankind?

pa

What ideas are excited in our minds by the names of such as Caligula, Nero, Dioclesian, Decius, names detestable in all ages? What ideas could we excité in your minds, were we to weigh in a just balance the virtues of such heroes as have been rendered famous by the encomiums given them? You would be astonished to see that these men, who have been called the delights of mankind, have often deserved execration, and ought to be considered with horror. But I purposely forbear, and will not put in this list all that ought to be placed there, that is to say, all those who have had sovereign power except a

very few, who in comparison are next to none, and who are, as it were, lost in the crowd among the rest. And yet the elevation of kings makes their crimes more communicable, and their examples more contagious; their sins become a filthy vapor infecting the air, and shedding their malignant influence all over our cities and families, lightning, and thundering, and disturbing the world. Accordingly you see in general, that what the king is in his kingdom, the governor is in his province; what the governor is in his province, the nobleman is in his domain; what the nobleman is in his domain, the master is in his family. The multitude is a bad guide, mankind are a dangerous model, considered in regard to the masters who govern them.

2. Consider the many in regard to divers professions. What is the profession of a soldier, particularly of an officer of rank in the army? It is to defend society, to maintain religion, to be a parent to the soldiery, to bridle the licentiousness of arms, to oppose power against injustice, to derive from all the views of death, that lie open before him, motives to prepare his accounts to produce before his judge. But what is the conduct of a soldier? Is it not to brave society? Is it not to trample upon religion? Is it not to set examples of debauchery, licentiousness and vengeance? Is it not to let out his abilities, and to sacrifice his life to the most ambitious designs, and to the most bloody enterprizes of princes? Is it not to accustom himself to ideas of death and judgment till he laughs at both, to stifle all remorse, and to extirpate all the fears, which such objects naturally excite in the consciences of other men?

What is the profession of a judge? It is to have no regard to the appearances of men, it is to be affable to all, who appeal to authority, to study